With Half A Heart
by Diao Lover
Summary: Sequel to Betrayals of the Heart! I stared into her eyes, there were oddly similar to mine. Her hair was the same shade, same length... Surely I was imagining things, but as I studied her face. I realized it was perfection, she was a Goddess, her eyes reminded me of a fox and that was when I knew she was me. I had to be insane but I knew she had taken the other half of my heart.
1. Prologue

**And here is the new story! With Half A Heart, it is going to be 100% better with more emotions, action packed, more schemes, more tragedy, more characters, more character development and relations and more romance and minor rivalries, more chapters (story will range from 27 to 45 chapters) ! Anyway, here is the epilogue and I hope it helps set in the tragic road the story will take. All of the characters will be in their DW8 outfits but some might first appear in different appearances.**

**Only thing I can say is please review! No flames but constructive criticism would me much appreciated! Btw, while this chapter will be short the others will be longer then this one.**

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Diaochan sat in complete silence, her heart was shattered and she was beginning to know what if felt like to only have half a heart. She had failed as a daughter and she didn't know if she had the strength or the will power to carry on.

Everything had happened so quickly, it was unpredictable and she wondered why the heavens seemed to hate her. _Everything was surrounded in flames, the palace was on fire and Diaochan desperately pushed through the flames to find her father._

Her blue eyes once bright and full with life were now dull and lifeless, she could no longer shed any tears as she was pretty sure she had already cried a river. "I just can't... Oh Father, please forgive me..." Her tone matched her heart, dead and broken.

Her fingers trailed the side golden dagger she normally kept hidden. Blood dripped off but she could no longer care, she felt no physical pain. The only kind of pain she could feel now was emotional and she just wanted to die, it hurt so much.

"So, nightmares do come true..." It was a whisper, her delicate hands left the dagger and returned to bury her face. "I just want to be free... Can someone free me... Please..." Despite her pleas, she knew they wouldn't be answered. There was no one around her anyway.

She had always been known as a loving, kind, delicate beauty but now all she felt like was a tramp that was being torn in two. _Fear and desperation in her eyes, she slashed her whip at two soldiers, killing them. "Father?" She cried out, her voice represented her feelings of fear and anxiety._

Nothing could get her out of her depressed state and she knew that if she didn't snap out of it soon something would happen. And she knew very well what would occur and it could possibly save any hope of freeing the land from it's chaos.

But she could care less about the chaos or the land, all she could bring herself to care about was her right now. When would it all end? When would she finally be free from everything? When would she feel happiness? Or was she doomed to wallow in self pity forever.

_'Oh please, Nuwa or Fu Xi whichever when one is watching over me please don't let it be him. Let it be anyone but him.' Begged Diaochan, the sight before her was concerning her and all she could see was an old man trapped behind burning debris, unable to get to an exit._

Closing her eyes gave her the comfort she needed, everything was just too painful and she only wanted to go back in time to prevent what had happened. Maybe, if she'd of been a better daughter it could of been avoided.

_As she ran to the old man, she knew instantly it was her father and half of her heart was already shattered. "Father!? I'll get you out of there!" She shouted, but her efforts proved to be futile. They both knew he was doomed._

It had all been too much for her and she knew that she couldn't just dance her way through this. _Wang Yun erupted into a fit of coughs, "Diaochan? You must escape. You must complete the mission, my time is over but yours isn't. Please live for me."_

_The words shattered what was left of her heart. "No, Father this isn't happening. You're going to make it... You're going to make it..." Her voice became softer and she knew she was only trying to convince herself. "Diaochan, do this old man one last request. Promise you'll never forget who you are, no matter what lengths you go to complete out mission, never lose sight of the wonderful lady you truly are."_

_With those words, he vanished into the smoke and flames. Diaochan couldn't stop the stream of tears as she collapsed to her knees, begging for it not to be true. "No...No...No...No..No..." She had repeated that two letter for so long that she had forgotten how many times she had said._

_Still on her knees, refusing to believe that the events which had just transpired was real, she was frozen with only her mouth working. _She knew she owed Lu Bu her life and that had just made her feel worse. She was just a woman that had been manipulating him to do her every bidding and he was a man who had fallen in love with a lady that was just manipulating him.

She could only faintly hear the footsteps and she only looked up when they stopped, her broken blue orbs looking into his strong, unbreakable brown ones. Without thinking, she jumped into the arms of Lu Bu and broke into tears for what felt like the thousandth time. And she truly appreciated what he had done for her, maybe just maybe she could cope but for now all she could feel was her heart breaking and she could only wonder if she would be able to continue living with half a heart.

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**That turned out better then I thought it would! I hpe you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, Lu Bu will officially be upgraded from a recurring character to a main character. Please review and tell me what you thought!**


	2. Playing With a Snake

**So I've decided to update this chapter, I'm having a new system for my stories. Every chapter has to be over 2, 000 words at least. Anyway, this chapter will basically be the same and in 3rd person but next chapter I'm going to trial 1st person, I prefer 3rd person but for this story I think 1st person will be better.**

**Remember**** to review!**

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The light footsteps awoke Diaochan from her trance, she looked up and over her shoulder, a fake smile was plastered on her face but when she saw who was standing there, it disintegrated into a scowl instantly, the person standing in front of her had an evil grin on his face.

"Li Ru." She greeted, her tone dull and bored as she turned her gaze to the window, looking out all she could see was snow. The white blanket covered everything and Diaochan wondered what was colder, the winter or her heart.

Despite the snow falling, the sun was still out and it illuminated the figure of Diaochan and for the first time Li Ru realized what was so appealing about her, her bright clothing contrasted with the plain wall and her pale skin seemed to glow. She was truly the most beautiful woman in the land.

"I heard about the horrible _tragedy_ that occurred before, so I thought we could talk over tea and meatbuns to help get your mind off of it." The voice was fake and Diaochan didn't tear her gaze away from the window as she answered, "No."

"No?" Li Ru said shocked and Diaochan decided to speak again, "I mean you must be awfully busy, way too busy to deal with a concubine such as me. I'm sure a man of a position as high has yours has much more important matters to attend to. Surely."

Li Ru's venomous eyes narrowed but the evil grin remained on his face, he shock his head before getting a servant to place the tea and meatbuns down. "Nonsense, Dong Zhuo even suggested this idea myself, he has been concerned for your well being, and he wants you to know he's supporting you."

Lies. All lies, not a single word in that sentence had been true. "If that is so then why isn't Lord Dong Zhuo here himself? Surely he would come if he wanted to dine with me and make me feel better." A subtle hint that she knew his words were not true and Li Ru struggled to find a answer.

But before he could even start to think, Diaochan had decided to speak once more. "I hope that this tea does not share a ingredient with the wine that was served to Empress He, Emperor Shao and his consort. They all seemed to suffer a quick demise after drinking that wine." Li Ru's fake smile immediately disappear and a shocked expression formed.

"Where did you hear that from?" Diao Chan finally tore her gaze away from the window and looked at him. "Women gossip Li Ru. It's a known fact, I do hope that you were intellect was big enough to know that." Came the simple reply and Li Ru knew she was insulting him.

Sitting down, Li Ru decided to start phase two of his plan to get rid of her. "Come Diaochan, let us enjoy this peaceful moment by eating these delicious meat buns that have been made by the Handmaidens." "I am honored by your presence Li Ru, it would be rude to refuse." Seeming to forget about not being rude, Diaochan turned her gaze from him once again and looked at the window, it was much more interesting.

Unfortunately she had been trained to be polite, Diaochan knew she had to accept this or things could turn out disastrous and she wanted to keep her enemies to a minimum She already had more then she wanted. "Which tea is mine?" Asked Diaochan, she wasn't going to let him have control of the situation and she wasn't an idiot, she would always have the upperhand when it came to underhanded schemes.

Li Ru pointed to it, a delicate white cup with pink swirl designs, and when he looked away, Diaochan switched the tea cups and proceeded to drink out of his. Li Ru may have improved his skills but he still made mistakes and she was certain he would never be able to match her.

Noticing her drinking the tea, Li Ru's smile returned but as he picked up the cup left over, he realized that the poison wasn't taking effect, he had gotten the most deadly type of poison, one that would kill in a matter of seconds. Confusion written on his face, Diaochan used it as opportunity to further infuriate him, tilting her head in mock confusion, she pretended to ask him a question. "Was something supposed to happen?"

And that was when he noticed that she was drinking out of the wrong cup. "No nothing, it's just I told you that this one was yours." Feigning innocence, Diaochan gently placed the cup down and pretended to gasp. "Oh, my Lord I _deeply _and _truly_ apologize for this mistake."

"No reason to apologize, it's understandable that you would not be so aware considering the _tragic _death of your Father. You're bound to be a bit off, it's understandable, especially for one like you." Diaochan glared, the cup slipping from her grasp and shattered against the floor, this was the official start of the war between them.

"I would be more careful if I were you Li Ru, how would Dong Zhuo like to find out that his son in-law was trying to get in with one of his concubines. I'm sure Lady Di would love to tell him about the flirting and bribing." It was a threat and Li Ru knew she was threatening him, "So I would love to advise you to never speak of my father again. Am I understood?"

Nodding, Li Ru opened his mouth again. "My mistake, of course, but it would be a pure _tragedy_ if you were to follow your Father's footsteps and end up under the ground. Many people might desire that so, in fact you should be more alert, this is a chaotic time and anything can happen." _'Hah, Li Ru you'll never be able to murder me.'_ Thought the dancer as she began to inspect her nails as Li Ru began to rant on and on.

Fed up, Diaochan decided to speak. "Don't play games with me Li Ru. You're just so predictable in every way, I want you to know I know your game. It's ust so unbelievable how you never change and you won't get away with it. Now that somebody knows you're every move, how are you going to cope?"

Not even giving him a chance to answer, Diaochan stood up and walked out the door. Looking back at him, she stared at him right in the eyes and even though his snake like eyes freaked her out, she was going to have the last say. "Master Li Ru, do what you want but I have concerns that if you act out again, I'll be forced to put you down. We don't want that to happen, now do we?"

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Lu Bu was training out in the gardens and Diaochan couldn't help but spy on him. He looked so handsome when he was fighting, so fierce and powerful. Everything about Lu Bu attracted Diaochan to him but the dancer was oblivious to her own feelings.

Every time she looked at him, she would begin to feel a little bit of guilt for deceiving him but then she'd remember Dong Zhuo and the guilt would vanish. The idea to lie and make him dislike his adoptive father came instantly to Diaochan.

Fake sobs caught his attention, and Diaochan pretended to be oblivious to his presence as she collapsed to her knees and the sobs grew louder. His eyes wandered to her body and he looked at her with pity, rage and jealousy. "Diaochan? What are you doing here?"

A smile formed on her face and she tried her hardest to suppress that smile as she continued to sob, "Oh it's so horrible Lord Lu Bu, I can't even mourn the death of my Father before Dong Zhuo ordered me to dance for him. He refused to listen and when I tried to plead for mercy, he hit me!"

Fake tears flowed through her eyes and Lu Bu's growled. "How dare he treat you like that!" Diaochan smiled, time for some serious acting. "Oh my Lord, you're always so kind to me. Much nicer then Lord Dong Zhuo who refused to let me gain my step father's personal items from his house."

"I'm sorry... Diaochan..." It was so quite she could barely pick it up but when she did, she looked at him with a answer demanding expression. "What are you sorry for my Lord?" His eyes met hers and she could feel herself blushing and she wondered why that was.

"For not being able to be there quicker, I couldn't save your father and it was all my fault. I want to give you peace." Diaochan's hand found it's way to his shoulder and it rested there, staring into his brown orbs, her voice delicate and soft.

"It was unpreventable, nothing could of saved him... His time was up and there was nothing anyone could of done to prevent it. But, I'm grateful for everything you did for me on that day... I only hope I will be able to repay you sometime."Lu Bu tore his gaze away and turned his head, she closed her eyes and her breathing was faint.

She knew that she had to change the subject now, she was feeling to vulnerable and she didn't want anything to go worng, she still had a mission and a heart to well, half a heart conversation was not what she needed, finding a subject, she decided to speak up.

"I haven't been attending the council meetings, can you please inform me of the status of the land?" Desperate to change the subect, Lu Bu agreed and voiced what was going on. "Tao Qiao has made a pact with Liu Bei, we've failed to obtain any more of Yuan Shao's territory, Cao Cao has some and the rest was divided between Shang and Tan. Zhang Lu has been awfully quiet, Ma Teng hasn't moved. The Wu territories have been silent and Sun Jian hasn't made any attempt to obtain more land. Liu Zhang has been fighting with the Nanman, who have been rather restless. And that's it, basically."

"Thank you," Diaochan whispered as she looked down, trying to take her mind off of everything and just not think but she knew that would never happen, Lu Bu finally looked back at her after a moment of silence and he grabbed both of her arms.

"You don't need to thank me, I haven't done enough for you. I only wish I was able to help you more, you don't owe me anything." Hearing those words, she knew with what was left of her heart that she did not deserve his love for her and she felt horrible for leading him on.

"You may not know it or believe it but you have helped me... You still are helping me in a way," She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek before walking away, her hand clenched the fabric where her heart is or was, her voice faint as she uttered a single sentence, "Because you're the only thing that's keeping me together." Her words disappeared with the wind as a tear dropped from her eye.


End file.
